


A penny for your thoughts

by Neko_ryn



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Asthma, Cancer, Car Accidents, Character Death, Child Abuse, Drowning, Fire, Gen, I'm sorry?, I'm trying to not be graphic, Kidnapping, Most of it are only mentions tho, Prisoner of War, Sick Character, Stabbing, Violence, Writing the tags I realized how dark this is woah, pretty much everyone is dead, tuberculosis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-05-25 02:29:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14967176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neko_ryn/pseuds/Neko_ryn
Summary: Dongyoung has been able to see ghosts all his life and he has never minded. Despite all the difficulties, he would never change that about himself, not when he can help soothe the pained souls and gain some friends along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, finally, the first chapter of the first fanfic for my summer project. I've had this idea in my mind for a very long while (since Yestoday came out) and it is finally here, this is a tragic fanfic, but I believe there's also something else to it, and I hope those who read it discover it along with me.
> 
> This fanfic will be coming out every Monday if I play my cards right, so wait for it. I hope you enjoy it!

The first drop of water was wiped away unconsciously by his still asleep body. The second and third drops managed to stir him a little as he grumbled and attempted to hide his face from whatever was dropping water on him. It was the fifth drop that finally got Dongyoung to open his eyes and wake up to a smiling young boy crouching right in front of him on his bed.

Maybe if it weren’t such a common occurrence he would’ve been scared; instead, he grabbed his pillow and pressed it tightly on top of his head, hiding from what he knew was going to be a very tiring day. Dongyoung begged quietly that the young boy would leave him alone, but it was to no avail, as said boy found a way to drip more water on his neck.

“Can you please stop?” Dongyoung huffed, aggressively removing the pillow from his head. “I can’t believe you waste all your energy in annoying me.”

“Annoying you? I’m doing you a favor.” The boy got off the bed and pointed to the nightstand clock. “You’re going to be late.”

“Shit.” Donyoung whispered, kicking away the covers and quickly getting up.

“You shouldn’t curse in front of minors!” The boy exclaimed, covering his mouth in a exaggerated way and laughing.

“As if, Donghyuck, you’re like 20 years older than me.” Dongyoung replied as he changed his clothes and went into the small restroom to wash his teeth. There was no time for a shower, unfortunately.

“True, then don’t curse in front of your elders, learn manners.” Donghyuck leaned on the wall right behind him, following his morning routine of annoying the hell out of the other.

“Hard to do so when you look like a baby, although you’ve lived in this place since way before I arrived.” The oldest looking said right after rinsing his mouth.

“Before you invaded my house you mean.” The young boy corrected, moving to sit on the bed as Dongyoung made his way out of the restroom.

“Well, no one told me the apartment came with an annoying ghost.” Dongyoung grabbed his backpack and opened the door to the hallway.

“And no one told me the new tenant would be able to see ghosts!” Donghyuck said with a teasing smile and ran over to the door right before the other could close it behind him. “Have fun at college!”

Ghosts. Dongyoung had been able to interact with them his whole life, and he had learned at a young age that it was best to not do it in public if he wanted to avoid teachers telling his mother to take him with a psychiatrist. She had always looked sad whenever his teachers called for her over that same situation: “Your son has been presenting strange behaviour in class and we suggest he should see a specialist”, they said every time, and she always smiled sadly and caressed the back of his head, knowing that they wouldn’t understand but making no attempts to explain either.

He didn’t actually mind being able to see them and talk to them, it was just a part of him after all, but not everyone was so comprehensive and it was best to just keep it a secret in the end. Donghyuck was the ghost he had known for the longest time, ever since he moved to that apartment after his mother fell sick and got admitted into a hospital with almost no chance of ever coming back out; however, he still knew basically nothing about the boy, and although he was curious and wanted to help, the boy was just too good at pretending there was nothing more to him than being the mysterious ghost of a teenager.

As soon as he got to college, an arm wrapped around his own accompanied by the fluffiest ‘hyung’ ever pronounced by mankind. Dongyoung let himself be pulled around by the man he had called his best friend for the past few years, it was none other than Kim Jungwoo. Although they were two years apart, they had clicked almost instantly when they had met; and Jungwoo’s carefree and goofy nature made a nice contrast to Dongyoung’s uptight lifestyle.

“How was your weekend? Did you visit your mother?” Jungwoo asked as he pulled his best friend along towards the lockers.

“Yeah, I gave her the flowers you sent, she really liked them. She also told me to send you her greetings.” Dongyoung replied, opening his locker once he had been freed.

“Great! I should visit my mother-in-law soon, I’m sure she misses me.” The youngest pouted, immediately receiving a gentle but warning push from his friend.

“What do you mean mother-in-law, stop joking around!” They both laughed, although there was a slight blush to Dongyoung’s cheeks; Jungwoo had always been too over the top, flirting with everyone like it was nothing, but it was also that confident attitude that had gained him most of his friends.

“Ah, right! How’s Donghyuckie doing?” Jungwoo asked, closing his locker’s door and leaning on it to look better at Dongyoung.

“Hm? He’s doing as well as always, if his constant teasing tells me anything.” Dongyoung closed his locker too and they finally headed each to their class after agreeing to meet during their recess.

Jungwoo was the only other person aside from his parents that knew Dongyoung’s secret; he had accepted it quiet easily and without questions when the oldest had told him. It had been important for Dongyoung, as it meant he now had someone he could trust with his secrets and experiences; it made him feel a little less lonely in a world plagued by normal people.

His best friend probably knew of every ghost he had ever met, and he always helped Dongyoung on dealing with the stress of meeting dead people and listening to their stories. Their friendship was strong, and Jungwoo was by far the most important person to him other than his family.

* * *

“Donghyuck, I’m home.” Dongyoung said out loud as he walked into his apartment, taking off his shoes carefully and making a short stop at his room to leave his backpack.

He didn’t find the ghost there as he had expected, so he left the bedroom and crossed the small living room towards the kitchen, where he found Donghyuck sitting on the floor on his own, just staring at the wall.

“Oh, here you are. Jungwoo told me to send you his greetings, he says he’s going to visit us soon again.” Something he couldn’t quite understand, since his best friend was incapable of seeing ghosts, but there was just no questioning Jungwoo. “Hey, is everything alright?” Dongyoung asked when no reply came to him, sitting next to Donghyuck on the floor.

Silence remained inside the apartment for a while; Donghyuck wasn’t replying to any of his questions or phrases and Dongyoung didn’t really know what to say anymore. This behavior wasn’t a common occurrence in the ghost, so he felt too nervous and worried to just leave and give him space, he would rather wait until something broke the silence.

“Hey, when we first met you said you could help me right? To solve the things that were bothering me?” The young boy said after a while, finally looking at something other than the wall: his own hands.

“Yes, that’s what I said, and my offer still stands.” Dongyoung was quick to answer. 

He had been waiting for the ghost to open up to him since they had first met, but it had been to no avail. All the secrets, all his story was hidden under that mischievous smile that refused to disappear in the presence of the human; but that day the smile had broken down, and the truth was slowly starting to pour out from the cracks.

“Do you think it’s too late to apologize?” Donghyuck asked again, this time finally looking at the other.

“It never is, not even as a ghost.” Dongyoung assured, knowing that it was finally time to help the ghost he considered a friend.

“Then I need you to help me find someone.”

* * *

Dongyoung sat down on his bed, his cellphone on one hand and a notepad on the other. A name, a birthday and a birthplace were all Donghyuck gave him before disappearing, probably wanting some time to himself since he seemed to be having such a hard time all of a sudden. He had wanted to ask the ghost what was happening, but there had been no opportunity; regardless, even if he didn't know the truth, he was willing to help, so he chose Jungwoo’s cell phone among all his contacts and waited until his call was answered.

“Hyung? What's up? Is rare of you to call at this hour, we just saw each other at college.” Jungwoo said immediately after answering, he sounded somewhat sleepy.

“I know, but I need to ask you for a favor.” On the other side of the line, Dongyoung heard the ruffling of bed sheets as his friend changed his position to something more comfortable. “Donghyuck finally asked me for help, it's been years but he's finally opening up, I have to help him.”

“Tell me what you need, I’m already taking notes.” Jungwoo said, his voice sounded more distant, so he guessed he had been put on speaker.

“Donghyuck gave the name, the date and place of birth of a woman, I’ll send you a picture. He didn’t tell me who it was, but I need you to find them, judging by the year they probably passed away already, so you could focus on cemeteries, or maybe even retirement homes.” As he finished explaining, Dongyoung took a picture of the notepad and sent it to his friend. “Do you think you can do this for me?”

“Of course, I just need a few days, you know how busy my dad is, but as soon as I get the information I’ll give it to you at college.” Jungwoo assured him, and Dongyoung easily imagine the smile on his face.

“Thank you, I bet he’ll be grateful to you too.” He added, his racing mind settling as he now had a clearer idea of what he was doing.

“Don’t worry, that’s what friends are for, helping mysterious ghosts find possibly other ghosts.” They both laughed, albeit knowing fully well the implications of what they were doing.

“See you tomorrow, at college.” Dongyoung said, and after both agreed with that, they hung up.

* * *

Dongyoung was putting things into his locker when a yellow folder appeared in front of his face and disappeared just as fast. He turned around just to find Jungwoo leaning against the lockers with his arms crossed, one hand grabbing on the folder that had appeared before him moments ago and a smug smile on his face. 

“Guess who’s back from a successful investigation.” Jungwoo said, shaking the folder in front of Dongyoung’s face.

“Already? Amazing, it only took you like two days.” He grabbed the folder, which Jungwoo had finally stopped moving around.

“I know! I actually helped my dad search. Inside there’s a death certificate and the directions to the graveyard and tombstone; it’s not much, but with this I think you’ll be able to help Donghyuckie.” His friend smiled brightly, looking proud of himself.

“Thanks, you did a great job.” Dongyoung replied, teasingly ruffling his hair. “Let’s go to class now.” He grabbed on Jungwoo’s shoulders and softly pushed him towards the classrooms; he wanted the school day to be done already so he could go back home to Donghyuck as quickly as possible.

Classes went by monotonously, but Dongyoung’s brain was back at his apartment thinking on how to break the news to Donghyuck; he didn’t exactly know who the woman was, but he suspected she could be no other than his mother or maybe a sister, it was what made the most sense after all.

When the last bell rang he picked all his things quickly and exited the building, sending a message to Jungwoo to apologize for leaving just like that. Taking the subway and then walking home, it all passed by in the blink of an eye, and finally he was entering his apartment, throwing his open backpack on the floor and walking in without taking off his shoes.

“Donghyuk, we found her!” The ghost appeared right in front of him. Even if his body had been immortalized like that, he somehow looked very tired. “We found her.”

“Really?” Donghyuck seemed unsure, with how much time had passed before he had decided to actually do something, to search for her.

“Yes, it’s probably not what you wanted but…” Dongyoung added as he pulled out the death certificate from the folder. “We can still pay her a visit, if you want.”

“Yeah, let’s go… I can’t really put this off for any longer.” The ghost answered after a while, and followed the other out of the apartment for the first time in years.

The trip to the cemetery doesn’t take long, and before Donghyuck has finished processing his own decision, they are already there and following the little map Jungwoo drew to find the tombstone. The two of them walk for a few minutes in silence until they found the grave and stood before it. 

Dongyoung said nothing as he watched his friend kneel in front of the grave and read out the name and the dates, his small frame shook with the recognition of the person buried in that grave and it went on with suffocated sobs and gasps. Ghosts couldn’t shed tears, but somehow seeing Donghyuck like that, wrapped up around himself and shaking uncontrollably, it wasn’t really any different to a living person’s suffering.

“I’m sorry mother, I’m so sorry for leaving before you, I’m sorry for letting you suffer alone.” Donghyuck managed to say after having cried his pain out, his voice sounded so weak and hurt, and Dongyoung wished he wasn’t suffering like that.

They go back home after a while of Donghyuck talking to his mother and updating her on his life, which was ironic considering he was a ghost; he also introduced Dongyoung to her and explained all that they had done together since the time they first met. By the end of it all, Donghyuck was back to smiling, looking peaceful for the first time after he had asked for the favor to find his mother.

“I died in this apartment you know? Given, it was quite different back then, but I guess time changes things.” Donghyuck said as they sat on Dongyoung’s bed. This was the first time ever he had talked about his death.

“What happened to you? If you want to tell me, of course.” The oldest asked, giving him his complete attention.

“My dad was very abusive… We lived well enough because of his job, but he always took all of his stress and anger out on us. He used to hit me or my mother, although I always tried to keep him away from her, so I ended up taking most of the hits.” There was a small pause, as the ghost looked at the wall, like he was trying to remember. “The day I died, something had gone really wrong at his workplace, so he came home quite angry; he was beating my mom when I got home from school, so I fought with him but he was far stronger. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean to do it but…”

Donghyuck touched over his neck, and the faint, purplish marks of fingers flashed before Dongyoung’s eyes; he shuddered, barely able to imagine the pain of such a death, especially at the hands of one of the people supposed to love you the most.

“It was quite painful, and lasted way too long since he was using his own hands; and I really believe it wasn’t entirely on purpose, he was just too blinded by anger to realise what he was doing. He must’ve been taken in by the police or something, I don’t know and I don’t really care to know either, I just wanted to find my mother… So thanks, for helping me with that, Jungwoo hyung too.” 

“I’m really sorry you went through that…” Donyoung said after a while of considering the story he had just heard, seeing his friend in a completely new light. “Thank you for telling me, but I want to know something so I can help you even more… Isn’t it painful to stay here? At this apartment?”

Donghyuck stayed in silence for a moment; he looked around, taking in the apartment and all that had changed over the years, and then he finally looked at the man that had acknowledged his existence after so many years of being dead, and he smiled.

“Not anymore.” He said.

“Really? Why?” Dongyoung couldn’t help but to ask, being that he wasn’t expecting that particular answer.

“Because now you’re here.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“... the police reported the situation as a hit and run, which could get the assailant a minimum of five years in jail up to life sentence. Although still unidentified, the police are putting all their efforts into finding the perpetrator so they can face justice; we will keep you updated as the investigation progresses.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I bring you the second chapter for A penny for your thoughts, hope you enjoy it a lot, it was an interesting chapter to write ;)

“Dongyoung hyung…” Donghyuck was lying on the small living room couch, his arm hanging down by the side and softly brushing against the floor. “Dongyoung hyung…” He called again, louder this time, but still no answer.

Dongyoung was in his room, sitting at his desk and working on his assignments; he couldn’t really hear Donghyuck since he had his earphones plugged into his laptop and was listening to music. Eventually, the ghost gave up trying and made his way to the bedroom, immediately clinging to the human to try and annoy him out of working on his homework. It didn’t have much effect however as Dongyoung simply grabbed the ghost’s arm and pulled him away, immediately going back to his work.

“So annoying… Why are you even able to touch me? It’s unfair, you shouldn’t be able to do it!” Donghyuck whined, leaning against the desk while crossing his arms over his chest.

“A gift from the heavens I guess.” Dongyoung replied, not even sparing a glance to the young boy as he wrote something on his notebook.

“So you can hear me, why didn’t you reply before?” The ghost grumbled, peeking over at Dongyoung’s notes to see what they were about. He didn’t really get any of it.

“No, I couldn’t, you’re just closer now.” Dongyoung decided to pause the music and take off his earphones, knowing the other wouldn’t leave him alone until whatever he wanted had been granted. “What do you want Donghyuck? I really want to get back to my essay.”

“Do you really?” He questioned, causing the other to huff. “Okay but seriously, I’m bored and I want to watch TV, but I can’t turn it on, can you spare a couple of minutes and help me? Or even better, take a break and watch it with me.” He suggested, looking at Dongyoung hopefully.

Dongyoung looked at him for a moment before checking the time on his laptop’s screen and sighing. He had been working on that essay for hours and it was only just a draft he had to deliver for next class; his notebook was flooding with notes and he still had a long way to go, maybe a short break wasn’t a bad idea.

“Okay, only twenty minutes though.” Dongyoung finally agreed.

He got up from his desk and followed Donghyuck back to the small living room; right after he sat on the couch, the ghost laid down on the space that was left and rested his head on Dongyoung’s lap. The oldest grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV to the news channel, which showed a female anchor talking about a recent accident.

“ _... the police reported the situation as a hit and run, which could get the assailant a minimum of five years in jail up to life sentence. Although still unidentified, the police are putting all their efforts into finding the perpetrator so they can face justice; we will keep you updated as the investigation progresses.” _

“I can’t believe some people dare to run away when they’ve hurt someone… Can we please watch something else? I don’t like the news, they’re always so negative.” Donghyuck commented, pointing at the screen.

“Yeah, you’re right, let’s watch something else.”

* * *

Dongyoung was on his way to college, walking his usual route after leaving the subway station. He stopped at the corner of a street as the traffic light went green and waited calmly for the cars to finish passing; as he did so, a sudden movement claimed his attention and he turned around to see what it was. He was met with the pedestrian crossing that had been on the news just the day before, and he easily confirmed that when he saw the victim’s ghost crossing the street and then being thrown away by a car that wasn’t there anymore and disappearing.

He sighed, it was unfortunate that no one had come to pick up his soul yet. It had always been unpleasant for Dongyoung to watch a ghost repeat the last twenty-four hours before their death, and there was no way to break them from that cycle unless they met a grim reaper or someone like himself. When he saw a ghost trapped like that he was always tempted to help, but he always held back, thinking it was infinitely better to meet someone that could actually help them get to the ‘other side’.

With that in mind, Dongyoung continued walking until he got to college, where he was received by a cheery Jungwoo that immediately clung to him and started talking away on how weekend had been and how he had had to spend it all working on an essay, just like Dongyoung. 

“Ah hyung, can I stay over at your apartment tonight?” The youngest asked, finally letting go of his friend once they reached the lockers.

“Sure, but why? Did something happen? If you don’t mind telling me of course.” Dongyoung asked, getting a head-shake as a response.

“No, it’s just that I’ve been staying up late finishing my essays and my parents are having a hard time because of that, so I just want to give them a good night rest.” He explained, looking at his friend with puppy eyes, although that was not necessary.

“Don’t look at me like that, I already said you can!” Dongyoung shook his head, pushing his friend away teasingly and earning a smile from him.

“Nice, sleepover at hyung’s!” Jungwoo exclaimed, raising his arms as he started to walk away. “See you after school!”

* * *

They spend the night sitting at the living room, working on their respective essays with the coffee table as support and the TV’s noise as a background; Donghyuck isn’t there to bother them, which disappoints Jungwoo ever so slightly, but Dongyoung consoles him with the promise of helping them talk next morning while they were getting ready for college.

_ “In other news, the police has finally caught the prime suspect for the hit and run that occured last Sunday- The suspect, now identified as Mr. Lee, didn’t try to resist the arrest and willingly went over to the police station. The family of the victim, Mr.-” _

Dongyoung, who had been listening to the news attentively, blinked twice as the channel changed and showed some sort of variety program. He looked over at Jungwoo, who had the control on his hand and tilted his head, receiving little more than a smile and a shrug in return.

“You were getting distracted.” He explained.

The night passed like that and they went to sleep quite late, getting only a few hours of rest -surprising considering they were sharing the same bed and it wasn’t all that comfortable with two grown men on it-; in the morning, just as promised, Dongyoung helped his two friends keep a conversation by repeating to Jungwoo everything that Donghyuck said.

On their way to college, they stopped at the same light Dongyoung had stopped at the day before. He looked at the other crossroad and saw the ghost waiting to cross as well, and he understood that no one had come looking for him yet, so he had to intervene.

“Jungwoo, follow me, we have to get to that crossroad fast.” He whispered, and as soon as the traffic light went red, he sprinted towards the other crossroad.

Jungwoo followed behind him as quickly as he could without understanding but also without questioning it. Dongyoung fixed his gaze on the ghost and, just as they walked side by side, right before when the accident was supposed to happen, he grabbed the ghost’s arm and pulled him long to the sidewalk he had come from.

Dongyoung watched with a comprehensive smile as the mysterious ghost ‘woke up’ from his cycle and writhed in pain as he relieved the memories of the accident; once that was over, the man started to look around in confusion, trying to understand what was happening to him.

“Am I dead?” Was the first thing he said, looking directly at Dongyoung.

“Yes, sorry.” He smiled sadly, watching as the man tried to comprehend the truth of what had happened to me. 

“Is there someone here?” Jungwoo asked, intervening after standing awkwardly by the side for too long, his friend nodded.

“What is your name? I can help you.” Dongyoung asked.

“John Seo.” The man replied, too baffled to add anything else.

“Well then, please follow us. We’ll talk when we’re out of class, there’s a lot to be said.”

* * *

The ghost stayed with them until they were both out of classes; he was quiet, almost out of it, and seemed to be deep in thought about something. After class, Dongyoung took them all to a quiet coffee shop that was at a ten minute walk from the college; the place wasn’t too big and there were a couple more of small student groups like theirs, but nothing that could be considered alarming.

They sat at a table in the furthest corner of the shop, Jungwoo sitting right in front of Dongyoung to pretend he was part of the conversation; although he had known Dongyoung his whole life, it was always fascinating for the youngest to watch him talk and interact with ghosts since his friend looked more mature and kind when he helped others. 

“Mister Seo, right? You don’t seem to be from here, judging by your name. My name is Kim Dongyoung, I’m twenty-two years old and well, I can see others like you.” Dongyoung introduced himself with a shy smile, it was always somewhat hard to deal with someone that had just recently died.

“Yeah… My name is John Seo, although I prefer Johnny; I was born in the United States but I’ve been living here for a while, I am twenty-three years old.” Johnny introduced himself, there was a certain sadness in his voice. “What will happen to me now?”

“Well, first you must now that although I can see you, I can’t really help you cross to the ‘other side’, only grim reapers can help with that; however, I can offer you my help with any unfinished business you might have.” Dongyoung explained calmly, having gone through this a dozen of times in his life. “The person that caused the accident is already being taken care by the police so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“I don’t care about that guy.” Johnny sighed, leaning his head on his hands. “I was on my way to meet my girlfriend, we had fought a few days prior and I wanted to make up with her because our anniversary was going to be soon… But now I can’t, and the last time we spoke it was really hurtful for both of us… I don’t want that to be her last memory of me, I feel so sorry towards her…”

“I see…” Dongyoung looked at Jungwoo, who had been staring at him the whole time with a smile even though he didn’t know anything. “I’m pretty sure we can help you with that, we just need to know where your girlfriend is.”

“That’s not a problem… But I need to ask you for something else, there’s something I need you to give to her.” Johnny added, making Dongyoung look at him with curiosity.

* * *

Johnny guided both friends to the house of his girlfriend, she lived at a two story house with his father who was usually out of town due to his work. They knocked on the door and a young lady with long black hair opened, her eyes looked puffy and reddish like she had been crying recently, but she still put a lot of effort in trying to appear presentable and kind to her visitors.

“Yes? How can I help you?” She asked, leaning on the door as she looked at both men in front of her door with confusion.

“Are you miss Kang? We’re friends of Johnny hyung, we have something we would like to give you.” Jungwoo spoke first, his charismatic nature had a way into people’s hearts.

“Oh… Okay, come on in.” She moved away from the door and let them in, taking them to the living room.

“How did you know him?” She asked after having them all seated. Without her knowledge, Johnny stood by her side, looking at her with hurt and sadness, but also deep affection.

“We had some friends in common.” Dongyoung said. “He had talked to us about your relationship and your recent fight, and told us he had planned to come surprise you and apologize on the day of the accident; he said he wanted to fix things before your anniversary.”

She managed to fight the urge to cry for a moment before breaking down in front of them and covering her face; the three of them felt guilty, but they knew it was bound to happen. Jungwoo offered her a small handkerchief to clean her face, which she accepted timidly.

“I’m sorry…” After a few deep breaths, she was able to calm down enough to talk. “But why are you telling me this now? It’s been a few days.” She looked hurt and wanted them gone, but she didn’t want to be rude to the two young men.

“Because we were looking for this.” Jungwoo replied, grabbing his backpack and pulling out a small black box from it, immediately handing it to her. “He told us these were for your anniversary, but we couldn’t find them earlier, we thought maybe you would want them.”

The young woman grabbed the small box and opened it, revealing a pair of delicate silver rings which had her and Johnny’s initials engraved on the inside. She immediately brought them closer to her chest and started to cry, thanking them; Dongyoung observer as Johnny’s ghost approached his girlfriend and draped his arms around her, softly leaning his head on top of hers and whispering something the other couldn’t quite hear. But it was okay, Dongyoung knew that at least there was no unresolved business among the couple.

* * *

“Donghyuck, I’m home!” Dongyoung said as he entered his apartment and closed down the door behind him.

“Hey hyung… Who’s your friend?” Donghyuck said, pointing somewhere behind him.

“Friend…? Shit!” Dongyoung exclaimed as he turned around and saw Johnny’s ghost standing right before him. “You followed me?!” He yelled, barely recovering from the scare.

“Hello, my name is Johnny Seo, I died last weekend!” Johnny smiled, making his way into the apartment.

“My name is Lee Donghyuck, I died here like 20 years ago or something like that, nice to meet you! Follow me, I’ll show you around.” The youngest said, making a sign to Johnny.

“Wait, no, you can’t just invite yourself into my house…” Dongyoung followed them, trying to stop them, but to no avail.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s very annoying, but quite harmless… Now, this is the living room, usually where I spend my time watching the TV.” Donghyuck continued, literally paying no mind to their host, who gave up and decided to just follow them. At least he didn’t have to feed them or anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to come talk to me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](https://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](https://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)
> 
> If you send me a message telling me who you are in the comments section I will follow back ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait.” The man he had just stumbled with said, he looked conflicted and confused. “You can see me?” He asked, putting Dongyoung off.
> 
> “What…?” He started to ask when Jungwoo came to him, cutting him off.
> 
> “What are you doing? Who are you talking to?” His friend said, looking at him in confusion as he showed Dongyoung that he had found the book they had been looking for.
> 
> “Oh…” Dongyoung said, finally understanding the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it has been a really long time since I posted the last chapter of APFYT and I'm genuinely sorry. A lot of things were happening in my country and in my personal life and I just couldn't get it together, but I am back and I hope I can finally have a regular schedule even if I'm not posting this on time but oof I tried at least?
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm really grateful for the lovely people who left comments, they helped me push through all the difficulties until I was done with this chapter, so thanks! <3

Dongyoung’s life had become two times noisier now that Johnny had joined their little household; he was often studying alone in his room but could hear them arguing over the remote control or being too loud over a show on the television. He tried to ignore them to the best of his abilities, but it was difficult to not want to join them when they seemed to be having so much fun.

On the other hand, Dongyoung felt grateful that the oldest had come into their life, after all Donghyuck was often left alone at home because of how busy college kept him, and like this the youngest didn’t seem to be lonely at all. Given, they were loud and would often barge into his room to ask for help with the remote control, but they also kept him company and made it difficult to feel like he was alone at all.

He felt slightly sorry to them however, since it was impossible for Dongyoung to help them go to the “other side” so they could meet they loved ones; it didn’t seem like they wanted to leave his side though, so unless they complained out loud, he thought it was probably for the best to not even approach the topic.

That day, as he and Jungwoo visited a library somewhat far away from their college to look for a very specific book there weren’t many copies of, Dongyoung couldn’t help but think about what the two ghosts could be doing in the solitude of his apartment. He wondered about this quite often actually; Dongyoung knew that Johnny left the apartment at night to not bother him while he slept since ghosts had no need for sleep. He had also seen him leaving in the afternoon to visit his ex-girlfriend and make sure she was taking proper care of herself.

Donghyuck, on the other hand, wasn’t the type to leave home often, if at all. After helping find his mother’s grave, Dongyoung knew the youngest sometimes left to visit his mother, but it was a rare occurrence and other than that he could only guess what happened while he was gone or asleep.

Just as he thought about this while browsing the bookshelves, Dongyoung stumbled against someone slightly shorter than him that seemed to be looking for a book as well. He barely looked at the man long enough to apologize for the accident before he went on to continue searching, since he wanted to be done in order to go home. Just a few seconds after, a hand grabbed on his shoulder, stopping him.

“Wait.” The man he had just stumbled with said, he looked conflicted and confused. “You can see me?” He asked, putting Dongyoung off.

“What…?” He started to ask when Jungwoo came to him, cutting him off.

“What are you doing? Who are you talking to?” His friend said, looking at him in confusion as he showed Dongyoung that he had found the book they had been looking for.

“Oh…” Dongyoung said, finally understanding the situation.

* * *

“So… You’re telling me there’s an actual soldier that fought in the Korean War right in front of us?” Jungwoo asked, for the third time, as his eyes wandered between Dongyoung and the seemingly empty sit in front of them.

They had taken an empty table at the back of the library that was pretty much surrounded by bookshelves, giving it a weird sense of intimacy. Even so, Dongyoung made sure they were talking with a low voice and checked regularly for anyone that could be close to them, since it was a very public espace to just talk with a ghost that was certainly not visible to everyone.

“That’s exactly what I said the first two times, why do you have to keep asking?” Dongyoung complained with a hushed voice, much to the amusement of his companions.

“Because this is probably one of the oldest ghosts I’ve met, of course I have to make sure!” Jungwoo replied, finding the situation quite funny as was evidenced by his wide smile.

“You’re impossible” Dongyoung sighed, looking back at the ghost, who seemed quite sheepish. “So Taeil… hyung, right?” He said, awkwardly, it was always difficult to establish any sort of relationship with a ghost, even more so if they had been dead for years.

“Yes, hyung is fine, don’t worry.” Taeil chuckled, he seemed quite gentle, even with the old military uniform covering his small body.

“So, you don’t have to answer this but, have you always been at this library? Is this where you passed away?” Dongyoung asks, maybe going too straight to the point.

“Well… No, because this library hasn’t existed for the whole time I’ve been dead but…” Taeil answers, feeling just as awkward. “Someone found me after I died, and they offered to help me “cross” to the other side, I asked if they could help me with something else first but they refused so I just didn’t follow them…”

“Oh… I see, I feel like that might be more frequent than it should, reapers should really start being a bit more sympathetic.” Dongyoung murmured, mostly to himself, since neither his friend nor the soldier seemed to understand what he was saying.

“Do you think you could help me? I’ve waited for decades but you’re the only person I’ve met that can see me…” Taeil said, more frantically than he had wanted to appear.

“Well, I don’t know how much I can do, but I’ll try my best to be of help.” Dongyoung agreed quite easily, already used to this sort of development. “What exactly is it that you want help with though?”

“Well, I don’t know how hard it might be… but can you help me find… well, myself?”

* * *

Dongyoung unlocked the door to this apartment and signaled Taeil to come in, the oldest seemed a bit shy as he wandered inside the home and took everything in, not familiar with the appliances and distribution of it. Once he had locked after himself, Dongyoung guided him to the living room where Donghyuck was sitting alone watching television with his head hanging upside down from the border of the sofa.

“This is where I live, you can just stay with us until we can go find where you are buried at.” Dongyoung said, gesturing towards his little apartment.

The moment he spoke, Donghyuck raised from his place on the sofa and looked at his friend and the new ghost in visible confusion; after all they had only welcomed Johnny a few weeks ago and it was rare that there was yet another ghost in the apartment, mostly because Dongyoung rarely ever brought other spirits home and while he hadn’t questioned much about the recently deceased following him, he found it rare that there were two in a row.

“So… Is collecting ghosts becoming a thing?” Donghyuck asked, claiming their attention.

“Oh, Hyuckie, you’re here.” Dongyoung said upon realizing his presence, although it didn’t quite come as a surprise since the youngest rarely ever left the apartment. “Don’t talk about you like that, it’s not like you’re objects…” He mumbled, shaking his head ever so slightly. “This is Moon Taeil, he’ll be staying for us until the weekend comes and Jungwoo and I can actually have some free time to help him.” 

“Oh, okay.” Donghyuck nodded, still uncertain by the appearance of an stranger that looked so out of place since the world had left him behind. “My name is Lee Donghyuck, I’m the resident ghost.”

“Where’s Johnny?” Dongyoung asked, walking over and sitting on the sofa; he felt quite tired, and didn’t really want to start with all the assignments he had.

“He left to visit his girlfriend and family, you know, the usual.” Donghyuck answered, sitting on the sofa once again, next to him.

“Sorry, but who’s Johnny?” Taeil finally jumped into the conversation, too curious not to.

“Ah, he’s another ghost that lives with me. Johnny passed away recently and ended up following me here so I guess I just let him stay? He keeps Donghyuck company.” Dongyoung explains with a light smile, sort of shrugging it off.

“Ohh…” Taeil nods, understanding. He still looks quite uncomfortable, not really knowing what his place is, so he just stares at Dongyoung until he looks back and smiles at him.

“Make yourself at home, it’ll be a long week.” He says, and Taeil agrees, but he has already waited for decades so he doesn’t mind having to wait a little longer.

* * *

The week passes by slowly and uneventful, Taeil has already gotten somewhat used to the antics of Johnny and Donghyuck and spends most of his time sitting on the couch with the youngest ghost using his lap as a pillow as they watch some random program that marvels the oldest anyway because he doesn’t know any of it.

That day Dongyoung arrives with Jungwoo following suit and Taeil immediately knows it’s finally the day they get to help him. It only takes a moment for them to change into fresh clothes and prepare a lunch that could keep them energized for the rest of the afternoon, since they weren’t exactly sure how much they were going to be over at the cemetery. Soon enough they’re leaving with Taeil and taking a taxi to the Seoul National Cemetery.

“There’s two main places where you can find deceased soldiers, and I think they are the only two places actually: Seoul National Cemetery and Daejeon National Cemetery.” Dongyoung explains, pretending to talk to Jungwoo. “We’re going to the Seoul National Cemetery since I’d say we have a better opportunity of finding it there.” 

The ride isn’t actually too long but it feels almost eternal to Taeil, way longer than all those decades that were now behind him. He’s both nervous and excited about the prospect of knowing what had been of him; he hadn’t been exactly important in the war so he couldn’t really expect much, but he still had his hopes up, it was the least he could do after so many years.

When they get to the cemetery, they immediately go to the section dedicated to the remains Korean soldiers. There are a lot of graves, probably thousands, but that doesn’t keep the three of them from walking and checking every single grave in search for Taeil’s name; hours later they find themselves exhausted and still with no positive result from their search, he just doesn’t seem to be there at all.

“I’m sorry, for making you waste your time like this.” Taeil says, sitting in front of them as they take a rest from their arduous work.

“You don’t have to apologize, we’re doing this because we want to help, right?” Dongyoung says, looking at Jungwoo who doesn’t take too long to understand.

“I can’t see you but my hyung is right, we’re doing this because we want to help you, you seem very nice.” Jungwoo says, simply, and Taeil has to say there’s something admirable about his carefree nature. “Plus don’t lose all hope yet, we still have to check the Memorial Tower, and there’s a whole other cemetery if we fail here.”

“Oh… You’re right, I shouldn’t lose hope over a few hours of search.” Taeil agrees and looks at Dongyoung, who immediately gets the message.

“He says thanks.” He tells Jungwoo, who smiles happily, satisfied with himself.

They take a good, well deserved rest before they’re back to their feet and heading towards the Memorial Tower. Taeil takes his time to enter the area, allowing the other two to start the search before him; he feels nervous once again, but refuses to give up just like Jungwoo had told him. Still, there’s something strange about that part of the cemetery, and just as he walks in the feeling amplifies.

When he enters, Dongyoung and Jungwoo are frantically reading the thousands of memorial tablets of those whose bodies were never found. Taeil doesn’t even spare them a glance as he walks towards something else: the graves of the unidentified bodies; there’s something strange pulling him there, and it makes him feel heavy and a bit confused. And just as he approaches it, he knows that his body is there, somewhere, among all the other unidentified soldiers, he can just feel it. 

He walks around erratically, almost running desperately, until he stops in front of one of the graves. It lacks a name, of course, but he just knows that his body is buried down there; and just knowing that, being able to feel it, makes him feel as if he still had a beating heart filled with overwhelming feelings he couldn’t quite describe. It takes a moment but Dongyoung eventually notices he has stopped searching, stopped moving, and then both he and Jungwoo approach Taeil in silence, waiting for him.

“It’s here… I’m here.” Taeil says, and his voice sounds strained, almost like he’s about to cry, but there’s obviously no tears.

“You found it.” Dongyoung says, which makes Jungwoo pay more attention to the grave in front of them. 

“Yeah, it only took like fifty years but… I found it.” He’s smiling again, and everything feels just right. “Thanks for everything.”

Dongyoung looks past the true form of Taeil, he looks past the dirt and the blood covering his ragged uniform, past the bullet wounds that appeared on him after finding his body; he knew they weren’t going to be there for much, so he didn’t need to remember the oldest like that. Rather, he took in the smile that decorated Taeil’s lips, it was sincere and full of satisfaction, and that was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

A couple of weeks pass before Dongyoung sees Taeil again. Surprisingly enough, he finds the oldest ghost in his living room, uncomfortably sharing the small sofa with Johnny and Donghyuck. Dongyoung stares at the three of them, truly surprised and confused about the situation, he kind of wants to be angry, but it’s difficult when the oldest looks like he’s having the time of his life watching caricatures on the television.

So Dongyoung lets them, he thinks it’s okay if it’s only for a little while, only for a couple of days a week. He doesn’t have the heart to tell them to leave anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sneaked a glance at the ward, seeing a young boy standing at the entrance of it and looking at him intently. Taken aback, Dongyoung greets him with a small bow of his head and continues walking, trying to avoid confrontation as much as possible. He doesn't notice the boy following him until he's almost gotten to the dinning hall.
> 
> "Wait, you saw me right?" Dongyoung turned around, feeling slightly anxious. "You saw me, didn't you?" The boy insisted, and he nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the time of the month in which I update this fanfic :D I know I'm a day late but it's just so hard to write you have no idea, the weather is so hot I get all sleepy and tired and I can barely be on the computer for 30 minutes at a time, it's just so exhausting hhhhh but anyways, here it is, and I hope you enjoy!

The night in Seoul was well illuminated by the street lights that covered every sidewalk and shone over the streets, looking over every passerby and driver that was still out at such late hour. The car drove through a lonely part of the city, the sidewalks and streets were almost completely empty as the clock's hands neared the first hours of dawn.

"Why did you have to do something so irresponsible?" The man on the steering wheel asked, looking at the young boy on the back of the car through the rear view mirror.

"Dad, just drop it, it wasn't even that bad..." The young boy replied, his eyes fixed on the road outside.

"Na Jaemin!" His dad exploded, hitting the steering wheel before taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

Jaemin didn't answer, insteal he lowered his eyes and fixed them on his hands crossed over his lap. He did feel sorry to his father after what had happened, he knew he had been in the wrong, but he was so embarrassed knowing he had made a mistake that it was just too hard to admit.

"I know you're young and you just want to go around and do stupid things and live your life..." His father continued, making him feel slightly worse. "But escaping the school to join your friends because they were boasting about how much fun it was is a bit too much don't you think?"

"I know..." Jaemin responded, trying to stop his irritation from showing on his voice.

"Do you really? Do you comprehend how bad what you did was?" They stopped at a red light and his father took this moment to turn towards him and look at Jaemin directly. "I just had to pick you up from the police station!"

"I didn't do anything, I was against the idea the whole time!" Jaemin interrupted, raising his voice.

"Stop talking back to your father!" His father yelled, more irritated every time Jaemin tried to intervene. "I don't care if you didn't agree with them in that moment or whatever, the fact is that you were there when you shouldn't have."

Silence fell over them and his father turned back to face the street, pressing on the accelerator when the light of the traffic light turned green. They stayed in silence for a moment, accompanied by the low rumble of the working engine, before his father started talking again.

"You're going to be grounded fo-"

In just a moment, the car had been violently launched to the side. It turned on itself a few times, hitting the floor repeatedly until it finally stopped moving and landed on its roof. Silence fell upon them, and in the few seconds of consciousness Jaemin had, he saw the silhouette of his father hanging from his seat.

* * *

Waking up felt very weird. It was like something was strongly trying to pull him down, like his body suddenly weighted so much it was hard to move; he could hear voices talking over by his side, but he couldn't make out any of the words, instead he was fighting between staying as he was or trying to stand up and free himself for the weight.

Slowly, the conversation started to become clearer, and whatever was holding him down slipped away and he was finally able to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the white ceiling staring right back at him; he felt somewhat dizzy as he had just woken up, but he was eventually able to sit up and look at the people that had been speaking besides him.

"For now, he's fallen into unconsciousness, we'll keep well monitored in case he wakes up, but from the damage he received from the car crash on his head and heart it is hard to tell if he'll wake up at all." A tall man in a white coat, quite probably a doctor, was speaking to his mother, who immediately burst into tears.

"What do you mean unconscious, I'm awake right now!" Jaemin said, standing up from the bed and walking towards them, however neither looked back at him, ignoring his presence like they couldn't hear him.

The doctor leaves and his mother walked towards him, but in just a moment she walks through him and goes to sit on a small chair next to the bed. Jaemin turns around in confusion, barely capable of registering what had just happened when he sees himself, laid on a hospital bed and covered with bed sheets, his body connected to all sorts of machines that he can't name.

"What...?" He whispers, walking back towards the bed and looking at himself. Panic surges through his body and his heart rate picks up, just as it starts getting a bit too high a nurse comes in and checks on him, doing something until his rate is normalized once again. She calms her mother down, assuring her there's nothing wrong with him before leaving again, leaving his mother even more worried than before.

Jaemin sits on the floor for a moment, trying to understand what is happening and why is he able to see himself laid down on the hospital bed, trying to understand how he ended up there in the first place. But no matter how hard he tried to remember, it just doesn't come to him, and there's nothing he can do but let uncertainty wash over him as his mother speaks, negotiating with his body as if that was going to bring him back.

* * *

"Yes Jungwoo, I'll send your regards to my mother." Dongyoung said, swallowing a laugh that threatened to leave his lips. "Yes, I got the flowers, I will give them to her, I promise." He says, unable to have the smile on his face as his friend continues to whine through the phone and threatening him of torment if he does not fulfill his promise.

"I'm hanging up now, go finish your project already." The oldest says, hanging up after exchanging goodbyes and finally heading into the hospital.

He greeted the receptionist with a smile and she just nodded at him before going on towards his mother's room. Dongyoung visited the hospital so often that pretty much all the staff knew him already, and since he always visited at the same time in the same days nobody bothered asking him to register himself.

Dongyoung walked calmly, the path to his mother's room well ingrained in his memory. He greeted the doctors and nurses he saw on his way, as well as fellow visitors that came just as often as him; one would think the hospital was like a second home for him, and although he did spend a lot of time there, he hated it quite a lot.

Even if he had no problems dealing with ghosts since he had done it his whole life, there was something that felt so wrong about hospitals, especially knowing that there was no way for him to help every single spirit that wandered the aisles. Plus, because of the high spiritual activity, hospitals were a common place for grim reapers to be at, and Dongyoung was always trying to avoid them.

He knocked twice on the door to his mother's bedroom before coming in. She was sitting, her eyes focused on the TV in front of her as she watched the news, only leaving the anchor's figure when she heard him coming in. A smile immediately made its way to her face, and Dongyoung couldn't help but smile as well.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Dongyoung asked, sitting beside her bed and carefully arranging the flowers on the empty flower base next to her bed. "These are from Jungwoo, you know how he is."

"I know, I know." She replied, her voice as soft and delicate as always. "I'm okay son, how are you? Shouldn't you be studying right now? I know you're a busy college student, you don't have to come visit me so often." 

"Don't say that mother, you know I would come every day if I could." He smiled, taking her hand and gently patting it. "Have you been good to the doctors and nurses?"

"Of course! Who do you think you're talking to?" Her smile widened at being teased, and she shook her head. "How have things been back at home?"

"We're doing well." He replied. "Maybe a bit too well, the guys get along just fine and they're always watching TV in my living room. Donghyuck and Johnny hyung basically live with me, and Taeil hyung visits us a lot lately as well." He explained, talking about the new friends he had been gaining.

He really enjoyed the smile on his mother's face when he talked about his daily life and about the spirits he had helped during his life. Dongyoung didn't really know why exactly, but he guessed it was because his mother felt like she was dragging him down, and although it was indeed difficult to have your family permanently interned in a hospital, Dongyoung loved her so much he didn't mind going all the way there every few days to visit her.

"I'm glad they have a place to go after all, they also seem like very nice friends to you, it's good that you're not living alone while I'm here." She said, patting the hand that held hers

"I'm glad Donghyuck has more people to interact with as well, you're always so busy with college I bet you barely pay them attention."

"Don't say that! I do try to take care of them..." Dongyoung mumbled, feigning feeling offended by her words.

They continue talking like that for a while before Dongyoung leaves to get something to eat, with the promise that he'll come back so that they can continue talking. As he heads towards the dinning hall of the hospital, he walks in front of the pediatric ward; that was a place that had always made him feel especially uncomfortable and sad, so he usually just walked by quickly to avoid any sort of interaction.

He sneaked a glance at the ward, seeing a young boy standing at the entrance of it and looking at him intently. Taken aback, Dongyoung greets him with a small bow of his head and continues walking, trying to avoid confrontation as much as possible. He doesn't notice the boy following him until he's almost gotten to the dinning hall.

"Wait, you saw me right?" Dongyoung turned around, feeling slightly anxious. "You saw me, didn't you?" The boy insisted, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was just distracted." Dongyoung answered, slightly uncomfortable due to the thoughts that plagued his mind.

"Don't apologize, I'm actually grateful! You're the first live person that has been able to see me." The boy smiled, it was a sincere smile.

"Live person?" Dongyoung repeated, confused for a moment. "Oh... Oh I'm really sorry." 

That was the reason he didn't like the pediatric ward. Everyone there was too young to be there, and yet illness and death didn't care about age, and Dongyoung didn't quite know how to deal with that. It made him think back on the time he had met Donghyuck, how horrible it had felt to know someone so young had passed away under the roof that was now part of his home.

"Why are you sorry? I'm okay." The boy replied with confidence, making Dongyoung's heart twist with bitterness inside his chest. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll wake up eventually."

"Wake up... Oh, I'm sorry for asking you this , but are you in a comma?" He asked, feeling slightly more relieved, although it didn't really make the situation any better. The boy nodded.

Being in a comma was very similar from being dead, Dongyoung had learned that much from his frequent visits to the hospital. Contrary to being dead, the spirits didn't have to be 'woken up' after suffering the accident that put them in that state, but in a similar fashion, they were unable to move freely around and had to remain close to their bodies. Dongyoung explained this much to Jaemin, trying to clear his doubts as much as he could.

"I see... I guess I'll be stuck to this form for a while." Jaemin said after hearing the explanation, nodding to himself.

"Hopefully not." Dongyoung said, trying to seem optimistic.

After that, whenever Dongyoung visited his mother, he would also pay a visit to Jaemin, talking to him and keeping him updated about the outside world. However, as the visits pass he starts noticing the Jaemin moves around with more liberty, little by little able to reach places further away from the hospital room that holds his body.

It doesn't take him as a surprise the day he finds Jaemin sitting next to his mother's bed, eyes fixed on the flower vase but not really looking at it. Dongyoung takes a sit next to his mother's bed, careful to not startle her or the boy, and he gathers the courage to ask the question he already knows the answer too.

"Why are you up here Jaemin?" He says, voice delicate in an attempt to keep the situation as calm as possible.

Jaemin looks at him and his eyes look empty, despite his non changing form there's a certain tiredness to his eyes, Dongyoung understands all of this without having to ask. 

"I'm free to move around now, there's nothing holding me back. I feel... Weightless." Jaemin explains, trying to come up with words that could describe what he felt.

"I see... But why are you here?" At that moment his mother wakes up, but Dongyoung just asks her to remain silent for a moment while he talks with the other.

"I..." Jaemin hesitates for a moment before continuing. "I didn't want to see my mother cry." He explains, ashamed, knowing Dongyoung understands what that means. 

"It's okay, don't worry." Dongyoung goes to hug him, holding him tight under the confused gaze of his mother looking over him, and he promises himself to explain it all to her later.

* * *

"This is my apartment, you can come anytime you need help with something or just want some company." Dongyoung said as he opened the door and showed Jaemin in.

The young boy walked, curiously looking around. He seemed surprisingly calm, but Dongyoung guessed it was because he had spent so much time in a state of comma that he had gotten used to 'living' like that. The first thing he showed Jaemin was the living room, which, surprisingly, only had Donghyuck in it; he was lying on the couch with his eyes closed, probably bored of watching the TV.

"Donghyuck, wake up, I want to introduce you to someone." Dongyoung said, leaning over the coach and looking at the ghost intently until he opened his eyes.

"Hm? Who do you want to introduce me to?" As he sat up Dongyoung moved away and pulled Jaemin closer to the couch.

"This is Na Jaemin, he's about your age." The oldest introduced both ghosts with ease, since it was something he had been doing frequently. "And this is Lee Donghyuck, he's been living here for a while, I'm going to leave you for a moment since I need to look into something."

Dongyoung left to his room to let them get acquainted, he also needed to look for what Jaemin had asked of him. During his comatose state he had heard about his organs being donated to other patients that were in need of them, and he had asked Dongyoung to help him look for at least one person that had received a part of him.

He didn't ask Jaemin why he wanted to meet those people, he was sure there would be no reply, instead he focused on trying to grant his small wish. His chest felt heavy with a certain guilt, and it probably was because Jaemin was just so young and it had felt unfair to watch him die so slowly, but he hadn't had the heart to abandon him in the hospital, and now he just wanted to help.

Dongyoung called a friend of his in the hospital, he had made a lot of friends during the years of visiting his mother there and he knew a lot of people, so he thought maybe someone would be able to help him. The call went smoothly, he had to lie a little saying he knew Jaemin's family, but in the end they told him there was actually a receptor in the same hospital the boy had been staying at.

"Jaemin, I have good news... What are the two of you doing?" Dongyoung asked as he walked into the living room, discovering the two boys fighting for the remote control.

"He wont' let me change the channel." Jaemin said.

"I have rights over the remote control." Donghyuck replied, once again trying to push the other ghost off of him.

"You're terrible with your guests." Jaemin complained, ignoring Dongyoung and going back to the fight.

Sighing, Dongyoung went to recover the remote control and turned the TV off looking at them with a mix of mild disappointment and amusement. The two ghosts glared at him before sitting upright in the sofa, keeping as much distance as possible from each other, still angry about the petty fight.

"Right so, as I was saying, I have good news." He said with a smile. "I found someone as you asked me to, we can probably go meet them tomorrow after I'm done with class."

"Really?" Jaemin smiled, and it was the first sincere smile Dongyoung had seen on him since they had met.

* * *

Dongyoung and Jaemin walked into the hospital, the youngest fidgeting around with nervous excitement. They had called the family previously and asked for permission to visit the patient, the family had accepted, still basking in the happiness of the successful transplant that had saved their daughter's life.

"Are you ready?" Dongyoung whispered just loud enough for Jaemin, who nodded in response. "Let's go then."

They went to the indicated room and after a couple of knocks they were allowed in. On the bed was a young girl who seemed to be about Jaemin's age, she was awake and had a big smile on her face, it seemed like she was feeling okay despite being on a hospital bed. They spoke for a while, Dongyoung told her about Jaemin and she spoke about her life and how this was about to change so much for her, how she had been given a second chance.

“How are you feeling?” Dongyoung asks after they leave, sitting with Jaemin on a bench outside the hospital.

“I’m good, I feel relaxed… I’m glad my parents respect my decision of donating my organs if something ever happened to me. They always said I was too young to make those decisions but… Well, here I am.” He laughed softly, although there was some sadness to his voice. “I never did anything worthy with my life, but at least my death helped save someone’s life, that more than I can ask for.”

“You’re surprisingly mature for your age.” Dongyoung said with a smile. “Let’s go, you’ve done a lot already, you deserve a break.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment and to talk to me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com/) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)! I have also created a [Curious Cat](http://www.curiouscat.me/soft_bluenicorn) for all of you shy people~
> 
> If you send me a message telling me who you are in the comments, I'll follow back!


	5. An announcement and an apology

Hello dear readers of mine. I come here with an announcement and a deep apology.

First of all, no, I'm not abandoning any of my fanfics, but I have to make a choice. My life has gotten too busy for me to handle and sadly I have to choose my responsibilities over the things I love, which is writing. However I do not want to give it up so I'm planning to do a dynamic. I tried to join NaNoWriMo this year but I failed miserably cause November is the busiest month of the semester, however I realized I'm able to write around a chapter in just a couple of hours perfectly fine so I decided I want to try doing something for December.

This is what I want to do: I want you to vote for the fanfic you want me to work on, and for the whole month of December I will be working non-stop on it, trying to put out a chapter every day if possible, with the intention of finishing the fanfic in December and making it a little less heavy for me. I know this is really unfair and I feel extreme sorry about this, but I just can't, I really tried but it's just too hard, and I understand now I was too ambitious.

I truly hope this won't upset too many of you guys and that you continue reading my fics in the future, I can understand if you don't. Again, my deepest apologies.

Here’s the link for the poll: [link](https://twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn/status/1067844114811633665?s=21)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I am finally back! A couple of days ago I asked you to vote at a poll in order to decide which of the four fics I was working on I should finish in Decermber, A penny for your thoughts was the winner so I bring you the first chapter of this December rush to celebrate! I hope you all enjoy it a lot!

“Can you tell the teacher I'm going to be a bit late? Yeah, I'll try to arrive quickly; it's just that something came up with mom.” Dongyoung held the cell phone between his shoulder and cheek as he checked one last time to make sure he had everything he needed and wasn't forgetting something important.

The day before he had spent the night at the hospital with his mother; one of the nurses had told him she had seemed depressed the last few days since Dongyoung had been busy with college, so he had decided to spend a whole afternoon with her until she had fallen asleep well into the morning. The problem was that he had returned to his apartment quite late and had barely slept anything, and now he was late to school.

Once he confirmed nothing was missing in his bag, he zipped it up and put the cellphone inside his jeans’ pocket. As he reached the entrance of the complex and opened the main door, he noticed the figure of a young nurse pushing a wheelchair towards the apartment complex next to the one Dongyoung lived at. The man sitting on the chair looked quite old and tired, his mouth was closed in a fine line and it was difficult to tell if he's eyes were open or not, he seemed to be in pain.

The nurse spoke to the man with a gentle expression, although it was impossible to tell what she was saying from that distance. Behind her was another person, it seemed like a young man to Dongyoung but it was almost impossible to tell with how they looked. The (possible) man was sickly thin and it looked like he could barely hold himself up, he breathed heavily as if he were in pain and stared ahead with unfocused eyes.

Dongyoung observed as the man brought his arm up to cover his mouth as he coughed loudly before groaning in pain and letting his arm fall next to his side. The fresh, reddish stain on the clothes he was wearing along with the fact that the nurse and the old man had not reacted to him told Dongyoung that the man was pretty much a ghost. His stomach churned with shame when he decided to go past them and focus on getting to class.

When he got to the university, class had already started, but the professor let him in anyway and so he made his way towards the back of the classroom, where his seat was at. It took him all his will to put away the thought of the ghost and focus on the subject, and he managed well enough until it was time for recess and he met up with Jungwoo at the school's cafeteria. They sat together at a table and enjoyed their mediocre food until his younger friend noticed something was wrong and asked him about it.

"I met a ghost, well, didn't really met him but..." Dongyoung explained, focusing his eyes on the food rather than on Jungwoo.

"So? You didn't help him?" His friend asked, staring directly at him.

"No, I was late for class and he looked kind of..." He trailed off, but the pressure of Jungwoo's stare was enough to make him finish his sentence. "Scary."

"Scary." Jungwoo deadpanned, shaking his head. "As if the whole idea of ghosts isn't scary by itself, that's no excuse to not help someone." He countered, going back to his food.

Dongyoung knew his best friend was right, but the image of the ghost looking so battered and angry made him not want to intervene any more than he already had by noticing the ghost in the first place. He did not know why he was so scared of that particular ghost, he had certainly seen his fair share of horrible deaths, but there was something about the way this spirit looked at everything with such hatred that did not let him breathe comfortably. Therefore, even though Jungwoo had tried to convince him of helping the ghost, Dongyoung decided he would rather keep himself safe from someone that could possibly harm him.

* * *

 

A few days went by like that, with Dongyoung avoiding the ghost every time he saw him at the hospital or outside the apartment complex he lived at. He was fairly sure the ghost was starting to catch up to his attempts at avoiding it, since he was not exactly the most discreet person, but also because he kept spotting the mysterious spirit a lot more often, even at places where the old man he seemed to follow was not present.

Dongyoung kept up with his weak attempt at avoiding the ghost until one day he found him sitting next to the coffee table of his apartment after returning from class. Johnny was sitting at the other side and chatting with the newcomer, while Taeil sat on the sofa with Donghyuck taking a nap curled up on what was left of the sofa and with his head on the lap of the oldest. Dongyoung had let out a less-than-flattering scream that had alerted everyone of his presence, and suddenly he had three pairs of eyes focused on him.

"So you can see me after all." The unknown ghost had been the first one to talk after the short and uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry."  Dongyoung had replied instead, trying to recover himself from the fright.

"It is okay, it's understandable given, well, this." The ghost said while using his hand to make a point of his horrible appearance. Silence fell over the room again as no one dared to say anything, and then Johnny broke the silence by standing up and getting Taeil's attention with a soft push to his arm.

"I think we should probably give them some space to talk; Hyuckie, wake up, we're going." Johnny said, ignoring Dongyoung's pleading eyes to not be left alone.

Donghyuck woke up and requested to be carried although he could perfectly move around by himself, so Johnny picked him up on his back and left the apartment followed by Taeil who excused himself quickly before exiting. Once they were finally alone, Dongyoung averted his eyes and looked at the floor; the ghost, on the other hand, looked at him expectantly.

"My name is Taeyong, you're Dongyoung right?" The ghost finally introduced himself and Dongyoung decided it would probably be better to take a seat for this encounter. So he sat where Johnny had been sitting before and nodded his head.

"Yes... I suppose you followed me here." Dongyoung added. "Is there some way I can help you? You don't look too good and it only means there's something bothering you."

"It's nothing, I just wanted you to stop avoiding me so obviously, since it was getting annoying." Taeyong was quick to reply, pushing aside the question.

"Oh... Sorry." He apologized again, feeling bad for having avoided him for so long. "So Taeyong... you're not going to tell me what's bothering you, are you?"

"Not a single word, why would I? You were avoiding me so you probably didn't want to know anyway." Dongyoung felt a little hurt at those words, but the ghost was right and had every right to not trust him. Knowing this just made him feel even guiltier, and now he wanted to understand and help Taeyong even more.

* * *

 

"So you're telling me you finally talked to the scary ghost and want to help him, but he doesn't want your help?" Jungwoo repeated as he took out and then put stuff into his locker. 

"Basically, yes." Dongyoung agreed.

"And why's that I wonder?" His friend pressured, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear his friend say it anyway.

"Because..." Dongyoung started, trying not to get annoyed at the teasing he well deserved. "Because I chose to ignore him cause he looked scary." Jungwoo hummed approvingly before closing his locker and turning back to Dongyoung, giving him a soft smile that came as unexpected and confusing for the oldest.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Dongyoung asked, turning away.

"It's nothing, just proud of you for maturing so quickly." Jungwoo replied, teasingly.

"Oh god, shut up." Dongyoung said, pushing his friend away and leaving for class, too embarrassed to face him anymore.

* * *

 

It took a couple more weeks before Taeyong finally opened up to him. Dongyoung encountered the ghost after leaving his mother's room at the hospital; he was sitting at the waiting room and just looking at the other visitors that were there for their family and friends. Taeyong saw him there and greeted him with a little hand wave, seeing he was alone, Dongyoung made a signal to follow him and guided the spirit towards the benches outside of the hospital, where there were not that many people and they could talk without him receiving weird stares.

"You're often at the hospital." Taeyong commented after they had sat down together at one bench.

"Ah yeah, my mother is a permanent patient here, I come visit whenever I have some free time." Dongyoung explained calmly, it was a question he was used to.

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that." Taeyong replied, looking genuinely sorry for having asked, but Dongyoung just shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it. What about you though? You're always following that man on the wheelchair... Is he someone you knew?" Dongyoung had already tried asking about it before with no favorable results, however this time Taeyong did reply.

"Yeah, he's my brother. Younger brother." The ghost said, not looking at Dongyoung, who couldn't hide the surprise in his face now that he had finally gotten the other to tell him something about himself. "He was five when I passed away, I think. So really, you can see how much time has passed." Taeyong said with a small smile and a shrug.

"I see... You're a really good older brother, taking care of your younger sibling even in the afterlife." Dongyoung said, smiling a little as Taeyong's smile grew bigger.

"Thanks." They fell into a comfortable silence for a while before Dongyoung decided to continue the conversation, thinking maybe this was the time to help the ghost.

"So... Do you mind me asking what does he have?"

"Uh... I think the doctors called it multiple sclerosis? Something like that, I don't really understand what that is, and the name is too fancy for me." Taeyong shrugged. "But it makes it really difficult for him to walk so they have to take him around in that wheelchair. He has some really good days though in which his mood is better and the illness isn't too hard on him."

"I see." Dongyoung nodded, making a mental note of asking around later on what the illness consisted.

After that, the topic drifted into something else and Dongyoung found himself learning about the life Taeyong had led. He had died on 1955 at the age of 23; he did not remember the moment of his death all that well, just that it had been quite painful and it felt like he was drowning with something. Dongyoung did not tell him anything about it, but he knew about the symptoms a little bit and had guessed Taeyong had died of tuberculosis. The spirit did not really seem to care about what had killed him however, and was solely focused on his little brother, so he decided to keep that information for himself. At least now he understood the ghost better.

* * *

 

Dongyoung did not really understand what kept making Taeyong appear in such a bad condition until one early morning in which he was woken up by the very alarmed ghost. The marks of blood and decay flashed on the ghost's body erratically, showcasing his evident distress and making Dongyoung feel dizzy and somewhat nauseous. He had to physically grab Taeyong to ground him enough so that he would finally stop and calm down a little; it worked good enough that the signs of the disease stopped flashing on and off and he could finally get the ghost to properly tell him what was happening.

"My brother was taken to the hospital, his condition worsened all of a sudden overnight and I don't know what's happening. I'm scared." Taeyong said with an alarmed voice, making an attempt to bolt out of bed that was stopped by Dongyoung who held him tightly in place.

"Okay, I understand, calm down. Your brother is most likely going to be alright... I promise, the illness is bad, yes, but patients with that disease tend to have really bad periods in which they get really sick, he's going to recover in a few days and go back to his normal symptoms." Dongyoung explained, grabbing Taeyong tightly by the arms to prevent him from moving.

"Are you sure?" The ghost asked, unable to trust him completely.

"Yes, I have some doctor friends at the hospital, I promise." Taeyong finally seemed to let his guard down with those words, and the tension vanished from his body. "Are you okay?"

"Not at all." He sighed, covering his face with both hands and rubbing at his face earnestly. "I'm scared of the day he passes away." 

"I can see that." Dongyoung nodded. "It is not easy, to see your family sick, but you have to understand that it is natural and that he will eventually pass away, you can't continue denying it and babying him. He has already lived a very long life and I'm sure he would've preferred to see you proud of him when he meets with you rather than seeing you worried sick or feeling guilty." Taeyong nodded, keeping silent and not knowing what to say in response. Dongyoung gave him an awkward hug and patted his back, not really knowing how to help him feel better.

Dongyoung did not go back to sleep that night, instead he spent it with Taeyong, talking to him and trying to keep him calm in the quiet of the night. A week or so later, his younger brother was returned to his apartment and Taeyong came back to visit Dongyoung and tell him the good news. The blood and the signs of tuberculosis are still present on Taeyong's body and Dongyoung knows he has to do something to help Taeyong before his brother passed away and it becomes too late to help him. He decides to take the ghost to meet his mother, it is a bit awkward since they cannot talk to each other directly, but Dongyoung makes a good job at passing the messages and he is not surprised when by the end of their talk his mother has adopted Taeyong as another child of hers.

Once their meeting was finished, Taeyong accompanied him to eat something at the hospital's cafeteria. They talk about the little meeting with Dongyoung's mother and Taeyong's impression of her. When he thinks they've talked enough to leave an impression about his relationship with his mother, he decides it is time to confront the spirit about his own situation, about what keeps him there makes him look like a walking corpse you would see in a zombie movie.

"I'm gonna miss her when she's gone." Dongyoung says after the conversation falls into a short silence. Taeyong looks at him with apologies spelled out in his eyes.

"I'm sorry... You said before she was a permanent patient here, right?" Taeyong asks, fiddling with his clothes.

"Yeah, she was admitted here quite some time ago. At first it was hard but I think I came to accept the idea after a while. She's going to pass away at some point, and although it is hard and sad, I'm okay now. Instead of worrying sick over her all the time I try to enjoy every single moment I get to spend with her. It's the most important thing, over everything else." Dongyoung explains. He knows the message gets to Taeyong when he sees his eyes become red with tears he can't shed.

"You know this is cheating right?" The spirit says; his mouth almost shaped into a pout.

"You need to let it go, the fear. You had the opportunity to be with him all his life, your love for him kept you here and you saw him grow and create his own story. You were the greatest older brother, I promise, but now you need to accept that he will eventually pass away, and that there's nothing you can do about it, even as his older brother." Dongyoung explains, leaning forward and grabbing Taeyong's hand. " Go with him, you have to enjoy what's left of his life to the fullest, be proud because your little brother made it this far, okay?  Stop feeling fearful and guilty, you did great." Taeyong stares at him for a few more seconds before disappearing. Dongyoung can't tell if he did well or not, he just hopes he was able to help a little.

* * *

 

Taeyong did not come back for a full month and Dongyoung definitely thought he had messed up, until one day when he's tutoring his friend Mark at home and the ghosts appears in the middle of his living room, looking brighter and cleaner than he had ever looked since the time they had met. Dongyoung stares at him, wide eyed and his mouth hanging open, until his younger friend brings him back to reality.

"Hyung? What are you looking at?" Mark said, looking at where Dongyoung was looking too but finding nothing.

"Eh?" Dongyoung looks back at the younger and clears his throat. "It's nothing, just focus on the exercises."

He waits until Mark has left to speak to the ghost, which had been sitting on the sofa the whole time just watching them work. Dongyoung sits next to him and stares at Taeyong, marveled by how different he looks now that he's not a decaying corpse, and he bothers enough to say this out loud, gaining himself a friendly push from the ghost and a flustered laugh.

"You really do look better, though." Dongyoung insisted, recovering his posture. "So much better." Taeyong shrugs.

"I'm trying to do what you told me, to enjoy with him the time he has left." He explained.

"That's good; you should be able to leave soon if a grim reaper finds you."

"It's okay, I'm not planning to leave soon, I have the feeling someone else here might need me." Taeyong explained, shrugging it off.

"Who?" Dongyoung asked, confused.

"Eh, you'll figure it out." Taeyong said, smiling as he passed an arm around Dongyoung's shoulder while the younger complained.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment and to talk to me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com/) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)! I have also created a [Curious Cat](http://www.curiouscat.me/soft_bluenicorn) for all of you shy people~
> 
> If you send me a message telling me who you are in the comments, I'll follow back!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had become such part of his daily life that he didn't even question it anymore, but if he thought carefully about it then it felt weird. He doubted anyone would be able to picture the way all these five ghosts lived with him in such a natural way. The way Johnny and Donghyuck usually took naps together in the living room's sofa, or how Taeyong would always baby the two youngest whenever he came to visit after being with his own brother, or even how Taeil would suddenly visit them a few times each week and just join the group so naturally in the living room as they watched TV and how him and Taeyong bonded over the fact that neither of them understood much of the new technology that had appeared after they had passed away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ I am back quite early! I bet you thoguht I wouldn't make it lol Anyways, here comes a little break from so much tragedy and death to give you a better look at how Dongyoung lives his daily life when he isn't trying to find death certificates or tombstones. I hope you enjoy this chapter, because things will only get sadder from here on, that's a promise. Enjoy the chapter!

**“** Dongyoung, wake up.” A hushed whisper made its way to his ears and he stirred ever so slightly, turning around and hiding his face in the soft surface of the pillows.   
  
“I know it's your free day, but you made some appointments today, wake up.” A different voice insisted, and Dongyoung growled softly in retaliation, hiding his face even more.   
  
“All of you are amateurs... Leave this to me.” A third, well-known voice joined the conversation and this time Dongyoung turned his head sideways and opened his eyes ever so slightly, only to find Donghyuck's face looming over him. Donghyuck noticed this, but he smiled mischievously and took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs. “Hyung, wake up!”   
  
Dongyoung groaned loudly and shoved Donghyuck away of his face. A few giggles followed before he was able to fully open his eyes and look around. Johnny and Taeyong, the ones who had tried to wake him up first, were standing next to the bed looking at him while trying to contain their laughter. Donghyuck was standing right next to him, with his arms crossed and a pout on his face because of how he had pushed him before. Jaemin was sitting at the end of his bed, a smile wide on his face, and Taeil was standing right behind him trying not to laugh too loudly.    
  
“Good lord you all are so creepy, surrounding me like this and staring at me while I sleep.” Dongyoung complained, taking a few seconds to stretch before settling for a sitting position on top of the bed.   
  
“In our defense, we haven't been 'staring' for that long, we just came to wake you up.” Johnny said, looking mildly offended for being called creepy.   
  
“Right, and why do all of you need to be here to wake me up?” He asked, unimpressed by the excuse.   
  
Everyone looked at each other but decided there was no good reason and just shrugged it off with a laugh. Dongyoung smiled a little. They weren't usually all at his apartment at the same time, except for Donghyuck and Johnny who  were there almost all the time, but he was happy to know that they all got along even at rare times like this.   
  
“You're meeting with Mark and Jungwoo today right?” Taeil asked.   
  
“Well, I'm meeting with Mark for a study session, Jungwoo just decided to tag along I guess.” Dongyoung corrected, kicking the sheets away and standing up from his bed. Donghyuck and Jaemin immediately jumped to take his place and ended up playfully fighting each other for a spot that didn't belong to either of them.   
  
“You're always with Jungwoo.” Johnny pointed out, there was a playfully suggesting look on his face that Dongyoung decided to ignore for his own good.   
  
“We've been together all of our lives, I guess it's a habit.” He said, royally ignoring the fight on his bed and opting to go take a shower, so he could eat breakfast and meet his friends at the public library.   
  
He didn't stay long enough to hear Johnny's reply, but he would've bet it was something silly and out-of-place like his replies tended to be. Instead, he made his way to the bathroom and locked himself in there, knowing fully well that would not stop anyone from coming in but hoping they would still respect his privacy like they always had, since that day they seemed a little too interested in his personal life.   
  
Truth be told, if he thought carefully about it, he couldn't really point out when had they become such a highlight in his life. Two months had passed since Taeyong had joined their little group and, without him noticing, they had crawled into the most insignificant parts of his daily routines. They all knew Jungwoo and had even chatted with him with the help of Dongyoung, and they also knew Mark from the times he had tutored him at home. Some of them even knew his mother and helped him keep an eye on her condition whenever he was too busy with college.   
  
It had become such part of his daily life that he didn't even question it anymore, but if he thought carefully about it then it felt weird. He doubted anyone would be able to picture the way all these five ghosts lived with him in such a natural way. The way Johnny and Donghyuck usually took naps together in the living room's sofa, or how Taeyong would always baby the two youngest whenever he came to visit after being with his own brother, or even how Taeil would suddenly visit them a few times each week and just join the group so naturally in the living room as they watched TV and how him and Taeyong bonded over the fact that neither of them understood much of the new technology that had appeared after they had passed away.   
  
“Has my life always been this weird?” Dongyoung muttered before going back to his business, else he was going to be late.   


* * *

“Hyung, sorry I'm late.” Mark sprinted as silently as he could towards the table where Dongyoung was sitting at. “Ah, Jungwoo hyung is here too, hi!.” He muttered when he noticed the other there, who was looking at him with a funny face.   
  
Mark took a seat quickly and took a deep breath, trying to calm down from having run there in an attempt to not be too late. Dongyoung smiled at him and let him regain his breath before asking him for his notes to see what he was having trouble with. He had met the youngest in the admission ceremony, he had liked Mark's hardworking but sort of goofy nature and had immediately offered to help him if he ever had troubles with something.   
  
They didn't study together that often, but every once in a while Mark would ask him to schedule a study session, and so they would meet at the public library or at Dongyoung's house. Jungwoo usually tagged along too, and although Mark had found it a bit awkward at first, the two of them had clicked well and now Jungwoo joining them in their study sessions had become a common occurrence.

The study session went well. Dongyoung explained the difficult concepts to Mark and gave him examples, testing on them after that; he managed to ignore Jungwoo's claims for attention until the younger had finally settled for just resting his head on Dongyoung's shoulder and whine quietly about the lack of attention. He would sometimes join the conversation whenever Mark didn't seem to understand the examples the oldest was giving him, so in the end the youngest managed to get all the answers correctly in the fake tests.   
  
“Okay let's leave it here for today.” Dongyoung said after a while, when he noticed Mark seemed to understand everything and that Jungwoo was already bored and fed-up. “Let's go to the convenience store, I'll treat you both to some snacks.”   
  
“Ohhh snacks! Dongyoung hyung is certainly the best.” Mark exclaimed, looking flustered as soon as he realized how loud he'd been before focusing on just packing everything up.   
  
Jungwoo put his stuff away too and grabbed Dongyoung by the arm, hurrying him to move quickly, so they could go get their snacks before they had to take Mark home. After being half-dragged to the outside of the public library, Dongyoung managed to take the lead and guide them to the convenience store, where he ended up paying for almost a dozen of different snacks that included cookies, chips and even some ice cream even though they were halfway into autumn.    
  
“Okay, now we can take you home Mark, let's go!” Jungwoo had exclaimed, intertwining his arm with Mark and pulling him along while the youngest laughed.   
  
Dongyoung followed them from behind in silence, just observing how Mark laughed at Jungwoo's antics while they shared a bag of chips. Once they had left Mark at the entrance of his house with half of the snacks he had bought earlier, Jungwoo and Dongyoung made their way back to the subway station so they could head to the hospital and visit his mother.   
  
“It's been a while since I went to see your mom.” Jungwoo pointed out, finishing a tube of cookies all by himself and then tucking the plastic into the left pocket of his hoodie, since there was no trash can in sight.   
  
“Yeah, she asks about you a lot. She'll be happy to see you're coming today.” Dongyoung agreed with a nod, making a mental note to remind Jungwoo of all the trash he was carrying around.   
  
"Ah, it's nice to know I'm so loved by my mother-in-law." Jungwoo cooed. He laughed as he saw Dongyoung grimacing, although there was an evident blush in the face of the oldest.   
  
"Please stop saying that, god." Dongyoung complained, both annoyed and embarrassed.   
  
"Sure, sure." Jungwoo said, laughing a little after teasing Dongyoung about his evident blush. "Ah, wait." Jungwoo stopped Dongyoung in his tracks before grabbing the right hand of the oldest and putting them both inside Dongyoung's right hoodie pocket.   
  
"What are you doing?" Dongyoung stuttered, flustered and confused.   
  
"I'm cold?" Jungwoo asked, as if it was obvious.   
  
"You have your own pockets?" Dongyoung retorted, even more confused and making a motion to pull his and Jungwoo's out of his own pocket.   
  
"Yeah, but they're full of trash... Please?" Jungwoo pouted, doing his best to convince the oldest of not pulling their hands out.   
  
"Fine." Dongyoung complied after a moment, knowing fully well he was weak to the pouting face of the youngest. "You're such a baby." Jungwoo laughed slightly at the comparison, but didn't complain since Dongyoung had gone along with him.   
  
"Okay, let's go see your mother now." Jungwoo said, softly squeezing Dongyoung's hand inside the pocket and dragging him along.

* * *

"Mom, it's me Dongyoung, I'm coming in." Dongyoung said after knocking softly on the room's door.   
  
He opened the door and walked in followed by Jungwoo, who had only agreed to let go of his hand after they had arrived to the hospital. His mother was sitting on the hospital bed, she was holding a book with her hands and reading it outloud with a soft voice; she was so focused on the reading she only noticed both of them had walked in when they were standing next to her bed. She raised her head and greeted them with a smile. Jungwoo immediately went to hug her while Dongyoung focused on recovering the book from their embrace. He was going to sit on the guest's chair when he noticed there was already someone there.   
  
"Oh, you're here?" He exclaimed, feeling a bit surprised. Jaemin looked at him with a smile before standing up and leaving the seat clear for him.   
  
"Oh, so there was indeed someone here to listen to me read, I wasn't exactly sure and thought I was making a fool of myself for a moment." His mother said after finishing her warm hug with Jungwoo. "Could you tell me who it is?"   
  
"It's Jaemin, I guess he came to pay you a visit." Dongyound said, finally taking a seat.   
  
"Oh, Jaemin's here?" Jungwoo asked, surprise showing a bit in his town.   
  
"Yeah, he says hi." Dongyoung said after Jaemin had asked him to.   
  
"Your mother is really nice hyung, I like how she reads." Jaemin said, and Dongyoung made sure to deliver the message immediately, smiling a little.   
  
"Well thank you! I appreciate your company." She said with a smile.   
  
His mother ended up telling Jaemin to stay, decision which was eagerly supported by Jungwoo, so Dongyoung ended up communicating everything the youngest said to them, although he didn't mind, since everyone looked happy about the exchange. They stayed with his mother until late in the evening, when a nurse asked them to leave her to rest. Jaemin and Dongyoung accompanied Jungwoo back to the subway station before they both headed back to the apartment, where everyone else was at.   
  
Once they were back, Jaemin immediately joined Donghyuck and Johnny in the sofa. They were watching an animated movie Dongyoung vaguely recognized as being a Pixar one before he went into his room. He managed to change into more comfortable clothes and sit down on his bed with his laptop before Taeyong walked in with a tired smile.

"Oh, hyung, is something up?" Dongyoung asked, a bit taken aback. He put his laptop away and patted the part of the bed in front of him, inviting Taeyong to sit down.   
  
"Hm, nothing much, I'm just tired I guess." Taeyong replied, sitting down on the bed and then just laying down with a sigh.   
  
"Were you with your brother just now?" Dongyoung asked, looking at the ghost with a feeling of worry. Even though some time had passed already, there were still bad days in which Taeyong was stressed and tired. In those days the marks of his death would return to his body and sometimes stay for a long time before he was back in his feet again.   
  
"Yeah, it was a hard day for him today." The ghost replied, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply.   
  
"It seems it was hard for you too, try to relax." Dongyoung said. Taeyong hummed as a reply and stayed in silence for a while. Dongyoung grabbed his laptop again and watched a couple of videos before Taeyong sat up and looked at him.   
  
"You went with your mother today, right?" Taeyong asked, curious.   
  
"Yeah, Jungwoo and Jaemin were there too, she seemed content today." Dongyoung explained as he paused the video and put his laptop away once again.   
  
"I see, that's good..." There was someone silence again before Taeyong was able to put into words what was on his mind. "Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" Dongyoung hummed and he continued. "How do you do it? I mean, you're studying and your mother is in the hospital, but you don't seem to be working so... Yeah."   
  
"Ah... You mean how do I pay for all of this?" Dongyoung said, raising both his eyebrows.   
  
"Yes, sorry if it's too personal."   
  
"No, it's fine... Well, I have a scholarship in college, so I don't really have to pay much. My father is the one paying for everything. He pays all the bills, including the hospital and the apartment, he also gives me money for food and all that." Dongyoung explained, trying to shrug it off, although the awkwardness did not go unnoticed by the oldest.   
  
"I see... Do you have a good relationship with your dad?" Taeyong asked, noticing the way Dongyoung grimaced at the question.   
  
"Not really, I've only met him like twice in my life..." Dongyoung replied, choosing to go back to his laptop as a sign of not wanting to answer any more questions.   
  
"I see, sorry for asking." Taeyong apologizing, noticing he had touched a sensitive topic. "Dongyoung?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"You're doing a great job, you know? Helping us." He said, referring to him but also to Johnny, Donghyuck and Jaemin back in the living room, and to Taeil who wasn't there at the moment.   
  
"Oh." Dongyoung looked at him, taken aback before he managed to smile, shyly. "Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment and to talk to me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com/) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)! I have also created a [Curious Cat](http://www.curiouscat.me/soft_bluenicorn) for all of you shy people~
> 
> If you send me a message telling me who you are in the comments, I'll follow back!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So basically you encountered him on the road and decided to bring him home, kinda like rescuing a puppy?" Donghyuck said, looking at Kun from his place on the couch.
> 
> "Hyuck that's no way to referring to someone..." Taeyong scolded softly, only receiving a pout from the younger.
> 
> "Well, when you put it like that you make him sound like Dongyoung hyung." Jaemin added, given that they had all been picked up.
> 
> "I didn't bring every single one of you into my household willingly, some of you literally followed me." Dongyoung complained, wondering when his house had been infested by so many spirits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I am back after so many days wow... This chapter took longer to write than expected and it's also double as long as I had expected it to be at first, but I regret nothing, because this is by far my favorite chapter out of them all! So I hope you enjoy it with me as well ^^ There are a couple of mildly-graphic descriptions of violence at the beginning, so please take that into consideration and be safe! Remember to leave a comment, I always read them and reply, they make me very happy!

Kun walked into the small, local store he was a frequent client of. He often went there instead of to a normal supermarket because they had good variety and prices, and the owner –a gentle middle-aged man– often gave him discounts and free stuff because of how often he went there. Some of the things he often got for free were candy and other sweets for the children back at the orphanage; the owner was quite fond of them and asked Kun and the other workers about the kids whenever they went to get groceries. 

The chinese man appreciated it a lot, knowing that there were other people fond of the children that were often looked down on but never truly helped by others. As someone studying to be a social worker, he wanted nothing more than to help the children he worked with to lead better lives despites the situations they had found themselves in; it was not their fault, and they deserved all the support to become better people. Because of that, Kun was very fond of going to that store, knowing there was a helping hand there made him feel better and that he was doing the right thing.

After crossing out the last thing on his shopping list, he went to the back of the line at checkout and chatted with the other locals that often went there. The community the orphanage was located at was considerably small, but they lived close to the main city so it was often busy. That day there were a lot of other people at the store as well, and Kun felt happy for the owner since it meant that business was doing well. 

As the person before him bid farewell once they were done with their purchase, Kun approached the register and put everything on the counter. He chatted with the cashier, the owner's granddaughter who often helped him in the afternoon, as she checked every item and put them in the cloth shopping bags he had brought with him. The orphanage had acquired them as part of a program to teach the kids to be more eco-friendly and responsible; Kun had found it quite endearing and so he encouraged it as much as he could.

Just as he was about to pay, he heard the doors of the store opening violently behind him. Kun turned around to look at the entrance with a mix of confusion and curiosity, and observed as two men came into the store. At first they looked normal, but Kun knew something was wrong when one of them stayed at the door and the other pulled something from a small bag he was carrying with him. He couldn't quite tell what the object was at first until the cloth covering it was tossed aside and a sharp large bladed knife.

"Cooperate with us and no one gets hurt! We just want your money." Said the man with the knife on his hand as he approached the checkout.

Kun felt his jaw tense and decided to just move back a bit. There was a mix of anger and fear that twisted his guts, but he decided to remain calm and just give the robber his space so as to not get hurt. He observed as the cashier followed the criminal's instructions as she tried to keep her hands from shaking too much; the robber, quite annoyed with how slow and clumsy she was, starting waving the knife around until he eventually cut her shoulder by accident. Kun's hands turned into fists when the girl started crying. He saw the robber mocking her. The flash of blood on her shoulder. He tried to keep himself calm.

Kun threw himself against the robber, his anger having gotten the best of him, and all hell broke loose. He pushed the man to the floor and fought with him there, it was a blind mix of punches and struggling until the robber's partner came to help him and threw Kun to the side, which caused him to hit his head against the floor. He could hear yelling next to him and someone calling the police, but everything felt too confusing. With difficulty, Kun sat up and tried to stand up to prevent the robbers from running away.

The one he had been fighting stood up with the help of his partner and recovered the knife. There was a moment of hesitation as he looked between Kun and the exit door, but he eventually made his choice and ran towards the chinese man that was still sitting on the floor. The force of the impact threw Kun back, but he couldn't even process the pain of the fall when he felt a pain far more intense rise up from his stomach, like he was being punched. He yelled when he felt the knife go down on him again and tried to pry the criminal away from himself.

He looked at the man on top of him with unfocused eyes. The man’s mouth was closed in a fine line, jaw tense as if he was biting onto something, but the look in his eyes spoke of nothing more than anger and hatred. Angry from having his robbery ruined by Kun, the robber stabbed him several more times before he was pulled away by his partner and they ran away. Kun felt dizzy and confused, it was like he couldn't breathe, like he was choking and he couldn't quite understand why. He tried to stand up but collapsed on the floor again from how slippery it was with his own blood. The pain only came to him after a minute or so of recovering from the shock, it was so intense he passed out to the blurry sight of people running around him and yelling at him to hold on.

* * *

 

"Wake up, Qian Kun." He felt a deep voice whisper in front of him, and when he opened his eyes, Kun found himself sitting in front of a white table. 

Sitting across him was a man completely dressed in black, his face covered by the shadow of the hat he was wearing. Kun looked around in confusion, trying to understand where he was and what was happening, but his questions were soon answered when the man started talking again.

"Qian Kun, male, born on January 1st, 1996 in Fújiàn, China. Single child. Moved to Korea in search of better opportunities and ended up studying to be a social worker. Died at the age of 22 years old on November 28, 2018 from thirteen stab wounds, eight of them fatal, which caused him to bleed out on the way to the hospital." The man said in a monotonous tone, words spilling out of his mouth fast like a memorized speech.

"What? What do you mean 'died at the age of 22'? Who are you?" Kun asked, he made an effort to keep his voice stable, but every word came out with a tremble that reflected on his lips and chin.

"I am an angel of death, or as you know us better, a grim reaper. I came here to collect your soul and help you get to the other side. You died a few hours ago victim of a criminal, don't you remember?" The man -grim reaper, said, and it was like the last words ignited something within him.

He remembered it, way too clearly, and he suddenly wished he could back to ignorance. He felt pain all over his chest and stomach and leaned over himself, trying to hug the pain away. He remembered the way the robber had looked at him with fury in his eyes from having ruined his plan, remembered the way he had downed the knife until Kun was so blinded by pain he had stopped counting. At first they had felt like being punched, but he remembered the merciless pain that came after, the slippery floor and his clothes wet from blood.

"Oh my god."  He whispered, his breath shaky from the shock. A shock far more terrifying and freezing than the one that had overcome him before he passed out and then woke up at this blank space.

"I can see you remember now. Well then, that is about it, you should come with me now. Are you ready?" The grim reaper said, straightened up and motioning to stand up.

"What? No! What about all that 'unresolved business' stuff? How can I just go like this?" Kun exclaimed, angered and offended by the supernatural being's attitude. The death angel shrugged.

"Why should that be my problem?" He asked. Kun scoffed at him.

"You're heartless."

"I am, literally." The angel replied, shaking his head. "Look, it is your choice to follow me or not, I cannot waste my time since I need to be at other places, collect other souls. Are you coming, or not?" The angel asked for the last time.

Kun stared at him in disbelief, wondering how could such a cold being exist in the first place. At least the man that had killed him was full with rage, with emotion. The grim reaper standing in front of him was void of everything, he did not even look annoyed by his attitude. He took a deep breath and shook his head, he was not going to follow him, not now at least, not when he had remorse and the faces of the children waiting for him nailed at the back of his head.

"Fair enough. When you feel ready to leave, you can call for us, we will come." The reaper tilted his hat ever so slightly and disappeared.

The scene next to him blended into the middle of a street, busy with cars and people all around. Kun saw a car coming at him and tried to move away, he was not quick enough however and as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for impact, the car went right through him and continued its way to wherever it was going.

"I'm dead for real..." He muttered, shrinking to the floor and holding his head with his hands like it was about to fall off. "Fuck..."

* * *

 

Johnny walked out of the house with a smile on his face, happy to see that his girlfriend was doing so well now that several months had passed since his death. Even as a spirit, the year had gone by quickly and it was already about to end; he had started visiting his girlfriend less and less, knowing that she was now finally starting to live her life again, even if it was not easy (Johnny could tell because she still carried the ring he had intended to gift her around wherever he went). Still, he felt at ease, knowing that her family and friends were helping her get over the tragic memory so she could remember Johnny only in his best moments, and he was grateful for that. 

He was making his way down the street when he saw a man walking on the other side. He seemed a bit lost and confused, although Johnny didn't think much of it since he couldn't help the living. That was until he saw red flash all over the stranger's body, and he had to stop walking and focus on him until he saw it again. It took him a moment to process it was blood covering all of his clothes, and it took him another one to understand that the injuries and blood were flashing on and off the man's body, making it clear that it was a ghost, just like him.

"Hey, wait!" Johnny found himself yelling before fully processing his thoughts, rushing after the man who was now looking at him with a mix of confusion and terror.

"You can see me? But I'm-" The man started once Johnny was in front of him, but it was him the one to finish the sentence.

"Dead. I know, I am too." He said with a smile that he hopped was comforting to the other. "Are you...?" He wanted to say 'okay', but that was probably not the right word. And he knew it wasn't when the stranger riled up at him.

"Okay? No, of course I am not okay, I was just stabbed thirteen times and bled out on my way to the hospital does that sound okay to you?" The stranger let out in one breath, his anger making his wounds appear more defined.

"Sorry." Johnny replied with a sheepish smile, taken aback for a moment. "If it makes you feel any better, I know of someone who can help you." He continued, carefully. "You're still here and moving freely, so I can only assume you rejected the offer from a grim reaper for something important."

"Did you go through something similar too?" The stranger asked, calming down for a moment.

"Not exactly, but I know about it. Will you come with me then?" Johnny repeated. The man seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding. "Great, my name is Johnny by the way, nice to meet you."

"I'm Kun." The other said, and Johnny nodded with a smile, they were getting somewhere now.

* * *

 

"So basically you encountered him on the road and decided to bring him home, kinda like rescuing a puppy?" Donghyuck said, looking at Kun from his place on the couch.

"Hyuck that's no way to referring to someone..." Taeyong scolded softly, only receiving a pout from the younger.

"Well, when you put it like that you make him sound like Dongyoung hyung." Jaemin added, given that they had all been picked up.

"I didn't bring every single one of you into my household willingly, some of you literally followed me." Dongyoung complained, wondering when his house had been infested by so many spirits.

Kun listened to the others discuss while he remained silent and observed them. He wondered how could all these spirits could be reunited at a human's house, and how said human was even able to see them and interact with them. He wondered about the ways the others had died and what was holding them back from going to 'the other side'; had they rejected the grim reapers in a similar fashion to how he had? Curiosity dwelled in his stomach but he couldn't really bring himself to ask.

"So anyway, Kun right?" Dongyoung said, interrupting the discussion and claiming the newcomer's attention. Kun nodded softly at him. "What did Johnny said to convince you of coming all the way to a stranger's home?"

"He said you could help me." Kun replied, catching Dongyoung's (and everyone else's) attention immediately.

"Well, yeah... I'll probably be able to help you if there's something you need help with." Dongyoung said carefully, not wanting to make empty promises.

"There's some people I want to talk to. I already know where they are but I don't think I'll be able to communicate to them in this... Form, you know?" Kun explained, smiling awkwardly. 

"Oh, yeah I can do that! I mean it might be difficult since not everyone believes in ghosts but I can try!" Dongyoung said, trying to cheer Kun up a little and exhaling when he managed to see a smile in the other's face.

"Oh, it won't be that difficult, trust me." Kun said, refusing to explain what he meant shortly after.

* * *

 

Dongyoung followed Kun all the way to the orphanage on his next free day. He had a hard time convincing Jungwoo that he wasn't going to miss anything for staying home to finish a project he had to deliver in a few days, but in the end the youngest had let him go under the promise that he would tell him everything that had happened in detail, and also that he would introduce Kun to him.

Kun guided him through a couple more of blocks before they stopped in front of a large building. Dongyoung gave a squeeze to the bag of snacks he was carrying with him and suddenly felt like they would not be enough for all the children in the orphanage. The chinese man encouraged him to knock on the door, which was opened by a young looking woman who looked at him with curiosity until he identified himself and she recognized him.

The woman let him in and Dongyoung noticed the small altar placed next to the entrance. It had Kun's picture placed in the center of it and there were some offerings left there; Dongyoung looked at Kun and noticed how the eyes of the oldest softened once he recognized the altar. He allowed Kun to have a moment for himself as he left to the main office to talk with the young caretaker, who offered him some tea while they talked about his visit to the orphanage.

"I heard about the news so I wanted to come and try to cheer up the children, I'm not an expert like how Kun hyung was but I can give it a try." Dongyoung explained after giving a few sips to the cup in his hands.

"Thank you, I'm sure the kids will appreciate the distraction. You did mention over the phone that you and Kun were friends, he never spoke much about himself so I was a bit surprised when you called and asked if you could come over." She explained.

"Yeah, well, we hadn't known each other for too long, so I wouldn't expect him to talk about me... But he talked a lot about this place, so I guess I had to come pay a visit, if at least to honor his memory. I also brought as many snacks as I could but I worry they might not be enough." Dongyoung said, presenting the bag he had been carrying with him up until then.

"Oh my, thank you! I'm sure the kids will appreciate the gesture nonetheless." She said. "I think we should go meet them now."

Dongyoung followed the woman back to the hallway, where Kun was already waiting for them, and guided him to the giant living room where the orphans usually spent their afternoons after school. Dongyoung was introduced to all the kids that were present at the moment, they were all of different ages and lineages, and seeing them melted his heart just a little bit. With the help of the caretaker that had welcomed him, they distributed the snacks to the kids and spent the afternoon playing with them. Kun stayed by his side at all times, telling him how to treat a certain kid or what they liked, so as to help Dongyoung make the best out of the situation.

Around five in the afternoon, the main door opens to reveal a couple of young boys that were just returning from school. Kun notices them first and immediately claims Dongyoung's attention towards them. Dongyoung observes them with curiosity as the caretaker called them over and introduced them to the visitor. They both looked young, about Donghyuck and Jaemin's age, and he could tell those were the two kids Kun was especially fond of.

"Here, this is Dongyoung, he was a friend of Kun and he came today to spend some time with us." She explained. "These are Renjun and Chenle, they're the only Chinese kids we have here, Kun was very fond of them." 

"I see... Do you guys mind if we chat for a little while?" Dongyoung asked.

He observed as Chenled looked at Renjun with doubt, they both looked uncertain, but Dongyoung could only try his best since Kun really wanted to talk to them. They accepted after a short moment and made their way to a more secluded corner of the room, where they sat down and Dongyoung offered them some snacks. They ate up, hungry after spending the whole day at school, and once they were done, Dongyoung decided it was time to talk to them, except he wasn't the one to start the conversation.

"Who are you really? Kun hyung told us about all of his friends, he never mentioned you." Renjun said, putting the chips he was eating aside.

"Straight to the point." Dongyoung mumbled. Next to him, Kun broke into a laugh, that had been the first time he had seen the older one laugh. "Well, I do know Kun... And I guess I'm here to deliver a message." Dongyoung did not quite know how to explain them. Kun had assured him they would understand, but honestly he wasn't quite sure of that.

"A message? Did he tell you something before he...?" Renjun trailed off, looking at Chenle who had been silent the whole time.

Donyoung felt bad, seeing the two of them so down and tired. It seemed like neither of them had slept much ever since the Kun's life had been taken away, and he could perfectly understand why. They were orphans, they relied on the people of the orphanage for everything that a normal family should give them, and now their -clearly- favorite person was gone from their lives, forever. His expression softened and he took a deep breath, he was going to do this, even if they called him crazy afterwards.

"You see...  I have a special ability that allows me to talk to people after they pass away." He started, trying to put everything on the table to make them understand what he was trying to say. "I met Kun recently, he's a really nice hyung, and he asked me to come look for you two because he wanted to talk to you since he didn't have one last chance." 

Renjun and Chenle looked at each other for a second, they both seemed uncertain, and Kun shifted impatiently next to him. Dongyoung felt silly for having accepted to do something like that, he was exposing himself, but he noticed the way the oldest anxiously looking at the other two and decided it was at least worth a shot. Worst case scenario, he would be driven out of the orphanage and never allowed close again.

"Is that true?" Chenle whispered, that being the first time he spoke at all. "Is he here?" Renjun looked apprehensively at him, but didn't say anything.

"Tell them about the time we sneaked out to explore the Han River, only us three knew about it, I never told anyone and they didn't either, I would've probably been fired." Kun said next to him, his eyes turning slightly red from the need to cry, although ghosts couldn't cry.

"He's telling me about the time you three snuck out to go to Han River, he says no one else but you three is supposed to know about that." Dongyoung offers.

Both boys gasp and immediately started shooting questions at him, questions that were all about Kun or directed at Kun, and Dongyoung felt more than happy share all of the answers Kun provided. By the end of their talk, Renjun and Chenle were holding each other in a tight embrace, the older of the two with eyes red and sore throat from trying to hold his tears back. Kun looked at them with a sad smile, and Dongyoung would have sworn he could feel his heart splitting just a little more, like every time he helped someone.

"Tell them I'm sorry for leaving like that, and that I'm sorry for not keeping my promise of coming back." Kun said and Dongyoung obliged.

His visit time eventually came to an end, and both Renjun and Chenle said goodbye to him, giving him a tight hug and thanking him for allowing them to talk to Kun one last time. When he left, Kun followed him, and he guessed it was more than likely just to thank him for allowing him to go on. He was wrong.

"What are you planning to do now?" Dongyoung asked as he walked down the street, wondering if it would be easier to get home by bus or by subway.

"Do you mind if I stay with you? I don't feel... Ready, to leave yet, I mean. They're young and I worry something bad might happen to them. Plus you look like you have a bit of a problem to take care of at home." Kun said, trying not to sound too persistent, but hoping he wouldn't be rejected.

"I suppose you mean Hyuck and Jaemin." Kun nodded and Dongyoung sighed, unable to actually reject the ghost. "I guess we could fit one more in..." He said, rolling his eyes, at which Kun laughed.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing."

Kun followed Dongyoung back home, keeping the rest of his thoughts for himself. He hadn't lied to Dongyoung about his reasons for staying, but he also hadn't told the complete truth. He did want to stay to look for Renjun and Chenle, as well as for the two cute ghosts he had just met; however, there was a deeper reason for his stay, one that burned deep inside him. It was a mix of anger and a desire for revenge; he was going to find the man that had done that to him and free the world of his existence, even if he ended up condemning his soul in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment and to talk to me on my Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com/) and on my Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn)! I have also created a [Curious Cat](http://www.curiouscat.me/soft_bluenicorn) for all of you shy people~
> 
> If you send me a message telling me who you are in the comments, I'll follow back!

**Author's Note:**

> You can go scream angrily at me for what I'm doing on Tumblr [@not-majestic-bluenicorn](http://not-majestic-bluenicorn.tumblr.com) or on Twitter [@soft_bluenicorn](http://www.twitter.com/soft_bluenicorn) where you will also be able to find more stuff I'm doing regarding fanfics and the like, thanks for passing by!


End file.
